Mom Tales

This week when I went to visit my mom, I asked, "How are you feeling?" She replied, "With both my hands!" It's nice to know her sense of humor is still intact.

A Visit from the Bones

Things have been pretty boring here in D-town lately. So, we decided to invite a friend over. Mr. Bones was a bit shy coming out of the box. And he didn't really want to Skype with Aaron and Kim. But once we gave him some dinner, he livened up and was chatting away on the cell phone and computer at the same time. He called up some of his family to tell them to stop by and soon we were entertaining Uncle Bub and Aunt Elsie. Uncle Tex dropped by to play a few tunes on the guitar and Jeff enjoyed chatting with The Captain. Things were going well until we accidently popped in on the Captain in the bathroom.

All the ensuing chaos drove Mr. Bones to drink and he found our stash of rum and downed it.

You can guess what happened next.

We sent the relatives home and tried to get him to settle down but he took off on Nate's bike, just as Nate was coming home. The ensuing crash looked bad, but he was okay. Nate carried him up the stairs piggyback and helped him climb into bed. Finally, he drifted off to sleep and then it was back to peace and calm for all of us once again.

Exotic Pests

We found out the problem with the raspberries and it is not happy news. I took a specimen into the county Master Gardener program and spoke with the horticulturist that was there. He immediately figured out it is Spotted Wind Drosophila. This is a brand new problem in Oregon and he directed me to the Oregon Department of Agriculure webpage (http://oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/IPPM/index.shtml) where it is front page news. It's a new fruit fly that attacts healthy, ripe fruit, unlike other fruit flies who only attack decaying fruit. There's not really any control for it. I'm glad I'm not a commercial grower. They are currently monitoring it and asking for specimens if it is found so my raspberries got sent to the state. Guess we'll just have to see what happens next year.

A little of this and that

First, here's another great book - "Strength in What Remains" by Tracy Kidder. Another non-fiction (my favorite these days) about a young man from Burundi who witnesses the genocide there and ends up in America and with the help of random people, furthers his education and goes on to be successful and goes back to help in Africa. A moving story and one that helped me understand some of the Hutu/Tutsi conflict that I've never figured out. Also, a book to make me appreciate all the blessings I have.

My friend, Kim, has started a blog. You can check it out here: http://www.kimberly-brandt.blogspot.com/ It's called No Particular Place to Go. Kim and I walk and talk most every Sunday, and we don't have any particular place to go either.

The raspberries are gone for the season. Sadly, I discovered worms in them. I think they are raspberry fruit worms but the master gardener I'm meeting tomorrow should help with the identification. We decided the prudent thing to do was cut them all down early so last weekend the guys helped me cut them back. We're hoping to stop the lifecycle and get them back healthy next year but it broke my frugal heart to toss the loaded branches away. Not much jam this year.

Luckily, I am still getting my CSA box. I love the variety and exposure to fruits and vegetables I might otherwise avoid. I can't wait to see what arrives today. Last week I made fresh salsa with the peppers, cilantro, and tomatoes and coleslaw with the cabbage, and the tiny grapes and yellow raspberries were just fun to try. Here's the link to their website: http://www.denisonfarms.com/ The CSA newsletters button has the list of what we get and recipes from each week.

Today is Tuesday, which oddly enough makes me think of Rosana. Back in the day, I would stop by her house in Salem after tennis most weeks. So, she would always be asking "are you coming over to play tennis this week?" As much as I dreaded those visits those days, I miss them now. She always wanted to see what I was wearing (one tennis outfit was a particular favorite) and ask what was new, and then often snuck in the request to go somewhere to get something. But no one really before or since, has seemed so interested in ME and my family. It was frustrating and time-consuming and I was often irritable but she was always, always happy to see me. I miss her knarled, athritic, old-lady hands squeezing mine so tightly.

Which brings me to the last tidbit, because I KNOW Rosana would love this picture. She loved MEN and who doesn't love a man in uniform? Here's Nate in his EMT outfit he wears to class. It's kind of like that "first day of school" picture. Except, now it's college and it's the second week of class.